Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Daemon
“Lord Harland?” Ser Aeron growled, shock and rage bringing his already baritone voice down another octave.
It had surprised Daemon just as much as everyone else in the room to hear that name fall from Caius’ lips, but they still didn’t know why.
And he couldn’t decide what irked him more—the fact that someone Auraelia trusted was betraying her or that the one who provided the information conveniently left without so much as an explanation.
Auraelia snatched the bowl and rag from the desk where he had left it and began scrubbing vigorously at the floor.
Her anger was palpable.
Sparks of lightning lit up the deep emerald coloring of her fingertips as a breeze began to lick against the back of his neck.
“My star—”
“Don’t.” Auraelia stopped scrubbing and heaved a heavy breath. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. I just want to get this clean so Vee doesn’t kill me and go home before I do something I’ll regret later.”
Daemon slowly walked over to where she was crouched just past the door and knelt at her side. “Let me help?”
She turned her head and met his gaze, but it was like she was seeing straight through him. Her mind undoubtedly swirling through everything that they had learned that night, trying to make sense of it. Trying to find a way through the maze of information that had just been laid at her feet.
He gently pulled the rag from her hand and, with the other, brushed the stray strand of hair that had fallen from her braid behind her ear. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into his touch, and a small sigh escaped from her lips.
“We’ll figure this out. Together,” he whispered, and she nodded.
Pressing a kiss to her brow, Daemon stood and turned to where Ser Aeron and Piper still stood in the small sitting area. “Care to lend a hand?”
The trip back to Emerald Castle was nearly silent, save for the sound of the horse’s hooves pounding against the dirt below. Each of them seemed lost in their own trails of thought, but none were as far away from the present as Auraelia.
Her back was near straight in the saddle, the hood of her cloak thrown back by the wind from the pace they set.
Her hands were clenched so tightly around the reins of her gorgeous mare that if he could see beneath her gloves, he was sure they would be white.
Daemon watched her the whole way back, but her eyes stayed straight ahead, never once glancing toward him or the others.
When they arrived at the stables, she dismounted and passed the reins off to the stablehand. Only then did she turn and finally meet Daemon’s gaze.
Her eyes flicked over his face like she would somehow find whatever answers she was looking for there. When her stormy-gray gaze finally met his, he let a tendril of his magic slip between his fingers, reaching out toward her until it wrapped around her hand.
He knew the moment she felt it.
A small contented sigh slipped between her lips, her eyes briefly fluttering closed as her shoulders eased away from her ears.
Daemon made his way toward her after passing off his borrowed horse—a chocolate stallion with white star marks flecked across his flank like a constellation that Xander had aptly named Orion.
He heard Piper say something about going to check on Xander and filling him in, though he didn’t believe that for a second since it was the middle of the night, and what they learned could wait until morning, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
Ser Aeron muttered something, but his words fell on deaf ears.
His entire world was wrapped around the woman in front of him.
She was his priority.
And the only words he wanted to hear were the ones that came out of her mouth.
“Walk with me?” Daemon asked, gently pulling a glove from her hand before lacing their fingers together.
Auraelia nodded, then led them away from the stables and toward the bench at the edge of the training pitch. It was the same one they’d sat at what felt like eons ago when the world was simpler, and the only thing that stood in their way was a piece of parchment signed over five hundred years ago.
Their walk was quiet—the only sound coming from the cold winter breeze that rustled through the naked branches of the trees—but he didn’t mind.
He knew her mind was a jumble of thoughts, and he didn’t want to pressure her into talking before she was ready.
Knew she needed to work through it on her own first before she said it aloud.
So he kept silent and let her lean against him as they walked.
Soaked in the feeling of her skin against his and the way his magic seemed to reach out for hers.
As they crossed the pitch, Daemon tilted his head toward the sky. The stars sparkled like diamonds overhead, the moon shining brightly against the velvety backdrop of night.
The longer he looked, the more pieces from earlier in the night fell into place.
When the moon is new and darkness fills the sky, that is when Davina is at her strongest.
Daemon knew the moon cycle like the back of his hand. As a sailor, he had to. But that also meant they had less than a month before Davina would undoubtedly attack.
“Fifteen days,” he muttered toward the sky.
“What did you say?” Auraelia stopped in her tracks, pulling him to an abrupt halt as well.
Releasing a heavy breath, Daemon turned toward her. “Fifteen days.”
“What’s in fifteen days, Daemon?”
“Caius said that when the moon is new, that's when Davina is at her strongest.”
Auraelia quirked a brow, her head tilted slightly as confusion marred her features.
“The cycle of the moon takes approximately twenty-nine days. That,” he said, gesturing toward the sky, “is the full moon at its peak. Which means we have about fifteen days until the new moon rises.”
She stared at him for a long moment, her brows forming a v between them. But when his words began to make sense, the confusion there mere moments ago shifted into a fiery rage.
“I’m going to kill him.” Auraelia yanked her hand from his and began to storm back toward the stables.
“Auraelia, wait.”
“I’m going to kill him!” she screamed, her words echoing into the darkness.
Pulling on the shadows that filled the night, Daemon summoned a barrier around Auraelia, stopping her in her tracks long enough for him to shadow-walk to her.
“Let go of me!” she screeched as Daemon wrapped his arms around her, pinning hers to her sides.
“No.” He kept his tone even, but when heat began to lick against his arms where ribbons of lightning began to spiral along hers, he let out a curse. “Stop fighting me, Auraelia.”
Willing his shadows to obey, he did the only thing he could think of. His magic swirled around them, cocooning them in darkness while she struggled against his hold.
Only when they landed in her rooms did he release her.
Auraelia whirled on him, fire burning in her gaze as she pushed against his chest. “Why did you do that!” Her voice shrill as she yelled at him.
“What were you planning on doing, Auraelia? Ride all the way to Garnet?”
“Garnet?” she scoffed, releasing the clasps of her cloak and tossing it onto a nearby chair. “No, I’m going to kill that treasonous bastard who sold out my court to the person trying to destroy it!”
“My star—”
“Don’t.” She pointed an accusing finger at him, her lips pursed as rage flared in her eyes.
“Alright, Princess. Do you really think it’s a good idea to go barging into a Lord’s estate in the middle of the night to murder him?” His tone was toeing the line between calm and frustration. He didn’t want to fight about this, but he needed her to see reason.
“No, but am I expected to just let him live?” she spat back.
Daemon stared at her for a moment, then lifted his lips into a smirk. “Yes.”
“Yes?” she asked incredulously.
“That’s exactly what you do, Princess.”
“What? You want me to just let it go?”
Daemon shook his head, then stalked toward her, slowly closing the distance between them. “No, my star. Let him think that he’s one step ahead. Let him run his mouth to Davina. Feed him information, then let him fall flat on his face.”
Auraelia’s eyes narrowed, then widened as his words sank in.
When Daemon was but a breath away, he cupped her face between his palms and let his lips brush against hers as he spoke.
“Let him think he’s on the winning side.
And when you’re the one to come out on top—because you will, I will be sure of that—not only will I not stand in your way, I’ll even hand you the blade. ”
The moment he pressed his lips to hers, she softened, her hands gripping his waist and pulling him closer to her body. A soft moan vibrated from her lips into his, but the moment he made to draw her closer, her spine straightened, and she pulled away.
Auraelia gently pried his hands from her face and stepped away. Her eyes were downcast as she spoke. “You should go home.”
Daemon dropped her hands and widened the space between them. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. It was like she’d ripped his heart straight from his chest. “What?”
She took a steadying breath, then slowly raised her eyes to meet his. “You need to go home, Daemon.”
All the calm he’d been trying to maintain dissipated, anger and confusion promptly taking their place as he stared at the woman who seemed bound and determined to do everything alone.
“Don’t do this. Please, my star. Don’t do this. Not again.” Disbelief clung to every word, his stomach twisting into knots.
Auraelia wrapped her arms around herself, eyes falling to the floor once more. “Daemon, please. I—” her voice trailed off like she couldn’t find the words she needed to say.
“No. I know you think you need to do this on your own, but you don’t.
Let me be there for you,” he pleaded. When she still refused to look at him, Daemon angrily ran his hands through his hair, pulling on the strands until pain shot through him.
He paced the floor a few times, then whirled on her. “Look at me, dammit!”